Re: [conculture] Re: Greetings!
From: | Tom Wier <artabanos@...> |
Date: | Tuesday, March 30, 1999, 2:30 |
Nik Taylor wrote:
> Tom Wier wrote:
> > What's
> > to say that these two communities didn't exist side by side, together,
> > and English only began to absorb them, slowly, over a period of
> > centuries?
>
> According to my History of the English Language class, these forms often
> existed in the North of England for centuries, slowly diffusing
> southward. I suspect that what the OED lists as "entering the language"
> is when it entered the southern dialects, especially London's dialect.
Right. Moreoever, it can only account for when it entered the *written*
language, which has always been traditionally more conservative than
what's actually used in speech.
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Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
ICQ#: 4315704 AIM: Deuterotom
Website: <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/>
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."
There's nothing particularly wrong with the
proletariat. It's the hamburgers of the
proletariat that I have a problem with. - Alfred Wallace
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